A Light in the Flame

Nyktos asks Sera to join him in his room. In bed, Nyktos asks Sera why she often holds her breath and experiences panic attacks. Sera does not give him a straight answer but knows that the habit is linked to her worrying. Holland has taught her breathing exercises to curb her anxious responses.

The next morning, Saion takes Sera around Nyktos’s palace. He tells Sera the story of Phanos, the Primal in whose court Saion first served. When the king of the city of Phythe ended the cruel annual games held in honor of Phanos, the vengeful Primal flooded Phythe and killed all its people. After the flooding of Phythe, Saion and Rhahar left Phanos’s court but were caught and brought to the Court of Dalos, where gods are sentenced. Young Nyktos inexplicably visited them in the cells the day before Phanos was to arrive to punish them. As he left, he patted Saion and Rhahar on their shoulders, taking their souls so that they belonged to him. Through this ploy, Nyktos ensured that Saion and Rhahar escaped sentencing from Phanos, as they were no longer Phanos’s to punish.